Bloodsucking ectoparasites like bed bugs, fleas, lice, ticks and mites are not only health nuisances, but can be vectors for diseases like allergies (dust mites), epidemic typhus and epidemic relapsing fever (body lice), plague and murine typhus (certain fleas), Lyme disease, relapsing fever and many viral diseases (ticks), and scrub typhus (biting mites). The scale and the number of ectoparasite infestations in the United States have increased in the last ten years. For example, bed bugs are now commonly found in multi-unit housing such as apartments, dormitories, nursing homes, and hotels, and public venues such as theaters, public transportation, and shopping malls.
While bed bugs are not known vectors of any pathogen, there is some evidence that bed bugs could act as mechanical vectors of Hepatitis B virus (Blow et al. 2001). Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium were recovered from bed bugs associated with a homeless shelter (Lowe et al. 2011).
The Second National Bed Bug Summit, 1-2 Feb. 2011, in Washington, D.C., concluded that detection is one of the most significant priorities in bed bug research. SRI International is developing a novel detection strategy to rapidly, conveniently, and unambiguously identify bed bug infestations at population densities lower than those normally detected by existing methods. Detection strategies currently in use include:                Visual detection: Personally checking mattresses and bedsprings, upholstery, and carpets for bed bugs, shed exoskeletons, or fecal droplets takes time and is often complicated by cryptic, inaccessible harborages;        Canine detection: Results with bed bug-sniffing dogs are highly variable. Success depends on the dog and trainer and type of entrainment and reward. Canine detection yields unacceptably high numbers of false positives, and its conspicuousness results in unpleasant public relations.        Active or passive monitors. Active monitors—such as Verifi® by FMC, CDC3000® by Stern Environmental, or NightWatch® by BioSensory, Inc.—rely on custom pheromone blends or carbon dioxide, to attract bed bugs to a trap. Passive monitors, such as the ClimbUp® Insect Interceptor, are placed near a sleeping person and use the heat and carbon dioxide of that person to attract and trap bed bugs. The efficacy of active and passive monitors depends on bed bug population density and may miss or underestimate small introductions of bugs. Most monitors also have an unacceptably large footprint, require specially trained personnel, and cost too much. In addition, both strategies involve actually handling dead bugs, which most people find unpleasant.        
Other approaches to bed bug detection include:                Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to distinguish bed bug eggs or leg fragments from human dwellings. This technique depends on physically recovering eggs or bug fragments and processing them using standard molecular biology reagents and techniques (Szalanski et al. 2011).        Microextraction of air samples to identify two well-characterized volatile pheromones, (E)-2-hexenal and (E)-2-octenal, by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (Eom et al. 2012).        The use of infrared sensors, microphones, and a piezoelectric sensor to detect locomotion (Mankin et al. 2010).        
Dow AgroSciences and Cytosignet, Inc., are developing antibody-based systems for bed bug detection; however, their systems use a limited number of bed bug-specific antigens. The Dow AgroScience system is based on detection of nitrophorin, a bed bug-specific salivary antigen, and the Cytosignet system depends on antigens specific to human blood voided in bed bug excreta.
We disclose a more robust polyclonal antibody detection kit for ectoparasites like bed bugs. In contrast to prior work, we have generated polyclonal antibodies against whole ectoparasites and lysates thereof such that our immunogen can include molecules from all nymphal instars, adult males, and adult females. Our invention is not only contrary to the teachings and conventions of the prior art, but was unexpected; for example, one skilled in the art would have expected cross-reactivity to present an impassable impediment, that negative-selection would not yield an effective residual species-specific antibody, that the hosts presented with the required immunogen would suffer impeding adverse local or systemic outcomes, e.g. infection, immunogenic shock, etc.
Our strategy provides a rapid, sensitive, discreet, and cost-effective procedure for early detection of ectoparasite infestation in both public and private dwellings. See also US20080148624 and US20100233731.